Friday, January 6, 2017

FOP - GOIN' SOUTH?

FOP
members in Chicago are facing fraudulent accusations all over the city. IPRA,
COPA, prosecutors, and IAD are attacking them for the most frivolous reasons.
They are being stripped. Their insurance just went up. Their union sold out
their pension security in the last contract. And law firms throughout the city
are looking for ways to profit from making allegations against them.

In
response to the dire situation facing these FOP members, what is the current
FOP administration under Dean Angelo doing to battle for its members?

They’re
planning a trip to Florida, that’s what.

That’s
right. Angelo and his guys are heading to Florida around January 12.

Florida?
What could be there? Is it the beaches? Disney World? Riding with the dolphins?

Nope.

What
lies in Florida are Angelo’s slim hopes of reelection.

Earlier
this week, Angelo’s board of directors approved a new policy that will allow
retirees to re-join the union, even if they haven’t been members or paid dues in
decades.

Isn’t
that fantastic? All these retirees have to do is pay one year’s dues and
they’re back in.

But
wait a minute, a member might ask, a member who has been paying all their dues for
all those years. Shouldn’t these members pay up for the interim?

Forget
about it.

Lodge
7 set retiree dues at $40 for each year. The State Lodge gets $25 of that and
the National Lodge gets $10.50. So, our Lodge only gets $4.50 per member for
the entire year.

In
any case, one wonders what possible purpose could signing up all these lapsed
members serve to help the current members of the FOP?

What
is so important that Angelo should fly down to Florida and hold a meeting with
retired members at their condominium compound down south?

Well,
a cynical FOP member might say it was nothing more than a plot to secure more
voters from the ranks of the retirees in the upcoming election.

Cynical,
indeed.

One
might think that Angelo—facing an election with little or nothing to show
members during his tenure as FOP president—hatched this transparent plot as a
means to get more retirees on the voting rolls. After all, Angelo clearly
believes his support is far stronger among that demographic than the working
members.

Some
members might think that such a policy violates the constitution, that the
constitution says members must be in good standing. But don’t bet on Angelo’s
lapdog board to ask any meaningful questions or put such a crucial new policy
under any microscope.

Hell,
they might even get invited on the trip to the Sunshine State. See some old
friends. Take a swim. Enjoy fresh seafood.

So
while Angelo and his guys are shaking hands down in Florida and making pitchers
of margaritas, trying to salvage some votes from the wreckage of their failed
administration, FOP members will be working in the arctic cold, wondering how
they will pay for their increased insurance costs, when the next crazy CR
number is coming down, what the status of the lawsuit against them is, and
whether the Department of Justice is taking aim at them.

But
they shouldn’t worry. All phone calls to the FOP will be forwarded to Angelo
and his guys down south. Their questions can still be fielded, even above the
din of the margarita mixer.